Special effort for special needs in Oshawa

If you’re parent to a special needs child, Grandview Children’s Centre has your back.

If you’re a candidate seeking election, you’d best get out in front of a push to expand the local centre, built 30 years ago to serve 400 kids, but which now assists 5,000.

Indeed, officials and supporters of the local centre have vowed to raise the issue with candidates throughout this provincial election campaign. Grandview officials and the families of special needs children are expected to turn out at candidate debates, rallies and town hall meetings for all of the provincial political parties to emphasize the urgent need for an expanded and upgraded facility in Durham Region.

And it is not unreasonable to refer to the need at Grandview as urgent. The centre has managed to adapt over the years to expand its reach to clientele, but the situation is such that, along with the 5,000 children that are currently benefiting from the programs and services at Grandview, another 2,000 are on a waiting list that won’t get shorter anytime soon without a bigger, better and modernized facility.

However, it’s not as if Grandview officials have been idle in the meantime. In 2008, the centre received $500,000 to create a site redevelopment plan and to better meet program requirements for children, but nothing has occurred. And a growing number of families have been waiting ever since.

We salute the effort of local parents who created the Our Grandview publicity campaign to raise awareness of the urgent need for expansion, and support for it is quickly growing. Each of the more than 1,000 who have so far signed on for their support should have their voice heard.

We recognize that these are austere times in terms of government budgeting. But an expanded centre that can serve individuals and families right here at home will save public dollars over the long-term. Those 2,000 children currently on Grandview’s waiting list, for example, won’t have to be sent elsewhere, possibly to another wait list, if a new facility was funded here in Oshawa.

No one can dispute the good work and the excellent outcomes that Grandview provides its clientele. We encourage Grandview officials and local families to take up the issue with election candidates, to explain the dire need, the community support, and push forcefully for action.